I finished this suit recently, made from an early 50s or late 40s pattern. I actually started it way back last winter (I wore the unlined jacket to the antiques fair in February), but then I kind of forgot about it and summer came along and it would have been to warm to wear anyway so I didn’t feel motivated to work on it.

I originally planned to do a pencil skirt instead of the wide skirt of the pattern, but when I had finished the jacket I thought the flared peplum was so perfect for a wide skirt, and I liked the idea of going with the very New Look-look of the original pattern. However, I had already bought the fabric planning for a pencil skirt, so making it into a flared skirt took a whole lot of piecing and tweaking, and I modified a different pattern, for a dress, that didn’t take quite as much fabric but had a similar look to the suit pattern skirt.

It’s made from a thick wool with satin lining and built in shoulder pads. I made the neckline very simple without a collar so that I will be able to wear it with a bunch of different loose collars.

I kind of wish I had skipped the last button since it pulls at the fabric. But it’s not perfectly smooth anyway so I think it still looks ok.

For some reason I really like the look of the lining! I just turned the jacket inside out and draped it on.

Here’s what it looked like with a big fur collar when I wore it out some days ago.

And here’s what it looked like under construction!